Sword Art Online: The Struggle to Survive
by Carbon839
Summary: Sword Art Online, the game that everyone wanted to play, not knowing what they were going in to. Akio was one of those unfortunate players, thinking that the software was completely safe due to his time in the Beta. Little did he know how wrong he was, how terribly everything was going to go. (OC-Centric. Rated T for overall theme. OCs no longer needed.)
1. Prologue

_A/N: Welcome to my first fic in a long time! I hope that everyone who reads this fic will enjoy it as much as I will writing it! SAO is by far my favorite anime, and I hold it pretty close to my heart._

_I ask everyone to read the note at the end. Thank you!_

_Disclaimer: Do not own SAO, only own the characters Akio and Rin, and nothing more._

**Prologue**

Sighing deeply to himself, Akio read the message he got from the Beta Test of the new VRMMORPG that was due to release tomorrow. He scanned over the message, reading the Virtual Mail:

_Dear Beta Tester:_

_The Sword Art Online servers will be unavailable from 12 O'clock PM until the release of the game at 10 O'clock AM, so we can prepare for the incoming users. We appreciate all that you have done to aid us in the preparation of the game, whether it was finding out a bug in the game, to testing the mechanics and engine of the system itself. As a show of appreciation, we deposited a small 'booster' into your game balance._

_With thanks,_

_ The Sword Art Online Team._

After reading the message, Akio logged off his account and stood up from his desk chair and moved towards his bed, laying back on it and taking out his phone. His news feed was blown up with all the people showing off their excitement for the new game coming up. A small smirk crawled across his face as he realized that many people will not know how to play properly, giving him an even larger edge ahead of the game. He turned his phone off and exhaled, the smile plastered on his face. Eventually, his excitement got the better of him and he checked the time.

"And so begins the countdown…"

Akio eyes shot open as he woke up, not realizing he fell asleep. He stood up and checked the time on his computer:

9:57 AM.

A sigh of relief escaped him as he found out he had not over slept. He grabbed his Nerve Gear and plugged it into his computer, the light turning on indicating it was connected. With a light nod to himself, he laid down on his bed putting on the helmet and waiting patiently. The three minutes afterwards seemed to drag on and on.

"Come on… come on…" he murmured as the Nerve Gear powered on, waiting for him to initiate the game. The clock on his HUD suddenly changed to 10:00, and the smile came across his face.

"Link Start!"

Right afterwards, his Nerve Gear lit up like a Christmas Tree, connecting him to the freshly started game. A moment passed, before he had to Log In.

'Username: Yuriko Fujibayashi.

Password: *******'

Light began to fill his vision as he was immediately transferred to his avatar.

Another moment passed, before he was back in control of his character. A small grin crossed his face as he looked to the sky. This was who he wanted to be: a better… Akio. He then sprinted off in the direction of the nearby Boar spawning area, wanting to jump into the fighting immediately. As he ran there, he avoided people who were spawning in for the first time, starting the tutorial quests, beginning their own adventure in the castle of Aincrad. However, 'Yuriko' ignored those people, knowing that if was too slow, the people who wanted to get their bearings in the combat system of SAO. Stopping for a moment, he checked to see how much time he would be on, which was roughly an hour by the time on the HUD.

"Excellent…"

With that, he arrived at this destination, the boar spawn zone, which was rolling grasslands that seemed to expand on forever into the distance. He opened up his menu and then his Messages and typed, "Meet me outside the Safe Zone."

He then exited his menu and turned to the nearest boar, taking out his dagger in the process. The boar seemed to know what was coming and turned towards Yuriko, digging its hooves into the ground, before charging at him. Deftly, he side-stepped the boar and stabbed into the boar's back, taking a chunk of its health, pushing it into the yellow zone. It squealed loudly, before turning around and charging at him once again, the AI not thinking that it wouldn't work, the player easily dispatching the boar with a stab to the skull.

Stepping back and closing the reward screen, he heard someone call out to him, "Akio-san!"

Turning around, he looked towards the voice: his real life friend, Rin.

"Why'd you call me out here?"

"To train you… unless you already know how to fight."

"…I don't want to brag or anything… but…"

"Duel me then."

"Fine. To the death I suppose?"

"Nah, how about the one with the lowest health loses."

"Okay."

With that, Yuriko sent the invitation to Rin, who accepted moments later. The two friends took out their weapons and waited for the countdown to commence.

'3…'

'2…'

'1…'

'Duel Commence!'

As soon as the timer ran out, Rin dashed towards him, trying to stab his sword trough Yuriko, but the other was too quick. With a quick slash upwards, Yuriko sent his opponent off-balanced, before he brought his dagger downward upon his friend's back, making the other's health drop slightly, stopping in the late-green area.

"…That hurt…" murmured Rin, who had jumped out of range of Yuriko.

"You don't look as confident as you did just a moment ago. Oh, you have less than a minute to turn this ar- "

Before he could finish his sentence, Rin suddenly lunged at Yuriko, catching him off guard and planting the sword into his shoulder, his own health dropping to yellow zone.

"Now that's not fair."

"Life is unfair," countered Rin, jumping back out of range.

Yuriko began to walk in a circle around Rin, trying to figure out where the best place of attack would be- but much to his dismay he couldn't find it. In a last ditch effort, he ran straight at Rin, his dagger glowing a dark red, before leaping towards him, moving too fast for Rin to react. His dagger cut right through the other's side, making Rin's health drop in the red zone.

"Good fight," he announced as the timer ran out, simultaneously sheathing his dagger. Rin gave out a disappointed sigh, before sitting down in the virtual dirt.

"Well… I gotta go now," said Rin, who was opening up his menu and pressing a few buttons.

"I guess we can train tomorrow," stated Yuriko as he opened up his menu as to change weapons to his hatchet.

"Sounds good… but…"

"What's wrong? Don't like the prospect of my really strict training regimen? You know I can be really harsh about this," Yuriko chuckled to his friend, closing his menu.

"It's not that… I can't log off. It's not letting me…"

"Yeah right… let me see."

With that, Yuriko opened up his own menu again and went to log off as well, but the button was greyed out.

"Just message a GM then. SAO did just get released just 30 minutes ago," Yuriko said, before going to ask for help from the GM, but did not get a reply. "Strange…"

However, before he could make a comment about it, a blue light began to form underneath the both of them, then enveloping them in the light and taking them to the Town of Beginnings center, where all the other players were being teleported to at that time. Many people seemed confused, not knowing what was happening. Yuriko turned to ask Rin a question, but was surprised that he wasn't next to him anymore. "I'll talk to him afterwards…"

Out of nowhere, the skies turned red, hexagons beginning to cover the skies, the words 'Warning' and 'Announcement' appearing on the hexagons. After the whole sky was seemingly covered, red, viscous liquid poured forth from the cracks in the sky, forming a massive blob. The sight caused many discontent among many players, murmuring words like 'Is this an event? What is going on?' Others seemed more confident, convinced that is a part of the opening ceremony. Suddenly, the voice began to speak, its word booming off the dome.

"Attention players… welcome to my world…"

_A/N: And that brings the Prologue to an end. Thank you for reading thus far! I asked everyone to read until the very end because I wanted to ask you, the readers to send in OCs for me to use. If you are interested in sending an OC, or you have a question for me, send me a PM and I will get back to you as soon as possible._

_As always, please Read and Review, I always like constructive criticism… as long as it is constructive, and nothing like 'this is dumb, you are dumb.'_

_Anyways, thanks for reading, I plan to publish Chapter 1 as soon as possible._


	2. Chapter 1

_A/N: From this chapter on, Akio will be referred as Yuriko, as that is his in game name. Also, still looking for OCs! Send me a message if you want me to add your character!_

_Disclaimer: Do not own SAO, nor do I own any OC's outside of Yuriko and Rin._

* * *

**Chapter 1**

As the Game Master went on, people slowly became more and more concerned at what was going on. Generally, when a GM was giving an announcement, it usually was bad news, especially since he was talking to the players as a whole. The master paused for a moment as if he was taking in the ramblings going on.

He then boomed, "My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world."

More worried rumbles came from the crowd, as they did not like it.

"I'm sure that you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the menu. This is not a defect. I repeat, this is not a defect. It is a feature of Sword Art Online."

"What? Is this guy insane?!" someone shouted out in confusion.

"Yeah, this guy is messing with us, I'm leaving…"

Despite most of the people not wanting to believe him, there was still a general feeling of fear, scared that they were in this game for who knows how long.

"You cannot log out of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shut down and remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit powerful microwave, destroying your brain and ending your life."

Kayaba paused once more, watching as the people began to panic a little.

Yuriko gritted his teeth, clenching his fists. _'This guy… he… he's insane! Why?!' _Slowly, he began to back towards the invisible wall, preventing anyone from leaving, including Yuriko.

"Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world. Many new organizations across the world have reported what was happening, so the risk of this happening again is minimal."

Shaking his head, Yuriko shook his head and slammed his fist into the invisible wall in rage. "I swear I will find this guy and kill him…" he murmured under his breath. "This… murderer…"

"Next, if you lose all of your health in Sword Art Online, the same microwave will emit from the NerveGear and end your life. In order to escape SAO, you need to defeat all one hundred levels of Aincrad."

"That's impossible!"

"I doubt anyone in the Beta has even got past level ten! This guy is insane!"

"Finally… I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourselves."

All of the players nearly simultaneously opened up their inventories and found the mirror and taking it out, activating it. The whole town center lighting up, blinding anyone in the square for a few moments.

Yuriko opened up his eyes, the blindness wearing off finally as he looked into the mirror.

To his surprise, he looked identical to his real life self. Medium dark brown hair, brown eyes, but he saw the same thing as he did in his old game character, the dark expression reflecting the absolute fear in his eyes, almost seeing into the future of what was to come, of the people dying whether it be out of desperation, or out of giving up on this whole thing.

Yuriko began to zone out, ignoring why Kayaba was doing this whole thing. Anger began to replace the fear, as he wanted to kill the man behind this, whether it is in game or real life. Determination made him forget the chance of dying in his quest, while at the same time, he wanted to make sure anyone survives the incident. _No one deserved to die here. No matter whom they were or what they did in their lives before this. I… I won't allow it. _

"This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. Good luck, players."

With that, Kayaba seemingly disappeared from the cloak, which quickly became a liquid and being sucked back up to the sky.

A few moments of silence followed the disappearance of the creator, before someone cried out. This created a domino effect for the whole square, which collapsed into crying, screaming, and yelling.

Yuriko backed away silently, dashing off away from the pandemonium from the square. He opened up his messages and sent Rin;

_Meet me on the closest path towards the next town._

"Where is he…" muttered Yuriko, looking around for his friend. He then heard Rin running towards him from the town.

"…Alright, what's the plan?" he asked Yuriko, not bothering to ask about if everything was true, as he knew that chances are it was.

Yuriko opened up his menu and pulled up a map, tracing a path for Rin to follow, who nodded in response.

"Along the way, we need to level up a little. There is a quest at the next town which gives us a house that we can make our base of sorts. Let's go before anyone takes the quest."

With that, the two set off down the road, occasionally stopping to grind up their levels a little.

* * *

A deep sigh escaped Yuriko as he dusted himself off, the earlier battle making some of the dust particles cover his grey duster.

"Okay, next… we need to move to the boss room, and kill it, which should complete the quest," Rin announced, putting his sword away.

"Easier said than done. As I recall, the boss is a human called 'The Shadow.' He sticks to his name and consistently disappears and tries to back stab you, which results in either an instant kill or a near instant kill. Be careful…"

With that, the duo walked into the room, careful of the boss. However, despite Yuriko's experience, he was wrong. Instead, a large orc ran at them, brandishing a massive axe, swinging it to them wildly, knocking them both back and to the ground, Yuriko taking the brunt of the hit. However, their situation was still not good, as their health hit yellow a moment later.

"Dammit…" grunted Yuriko, before he leapt up and sprinted back at the orc. In response, the orc slammed his axe downward upon him, but Yuriko deftly side-stepped him and slashed the boss' side.

The orc roared in pain, back handing Yuriko away easily.

"Switch!"

Rin by then was back standing, charging at the boss, which tried to slam his axe downwards upon him. With a quick parry, Rin did not stop his sprint and drove his sword into the creature's chest. The boss' health began to lower… but it did not kill the monster.

Yuriko widened his eyes, knowing what was going to happen.

"Say switch!" he shouted in desperation, but the words did not reach his friends ears.

The orc grabbed Rin and threw him to the ground, his health lowering to the red. The player tried to crawl away, but the orc stepped on his back, making Yuriko's friend cry out in pain. Yuriko took out his hatchet and charged at the orc, but the boss' axe slammed into his side, making his own health drop into the late yellow.

"No!" cried Yuriko, but no matter what he did, he couldn't save him.

The orc raised his axe and slammed it down on Rin's back, who cried out in pain. Helplessly, Yuriko watched as Rin's health began to drop to zero.

"Rin!" he shouted out, reaching to grab his only friend's hand, but it was far too late. The other's body had exploded into thousands of polygons, effectively removing Rin from the game… and real life.

Yuriko was frozen. He felt himself slowly give up on life. His earlier determination faded away, hope completely gone. He almost did not notice someone running into the cave.

It was a girl, by the looks of it a little older than him if he should guess. She had white-grey hair with emerald eyes that was, at that time, staring right at him.

"Snap out of it!" she called out to him, which was enough to make wake up from his daze. Shear anger took over Yuriko as he picked up his hatchet and charged the orc once more, not afraid of himself dying at the hands of the orc.

The orc tried to slash Yuriko in half, but he jumped into the air, bringing down his hatched into the monster's skull, ensuring that his health dropped to zero. The orc exploded into millions of polygons like Rin, which made Yuriko fall to the ground. The adrenaline subsided from Yuriko as he ignored the rewards screen.

"Hey! Are you alright!" called out the girl who ran over to him.

"No… No I'm not."

"Well it was your fault for engaging this boss. Your barely level 5 and this boss is fo-"

"I was fighting the orc with a friend."

The girl stopped what she was doing, before realizing what he meant.

"I-I'm sorry for your loss…"

Shaking his head, Yuriko moved towards the exit, before hearing the girl call out to him, "Don't give up yet! You can use his loss to make you stronger! As the old saying goes: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!"

Yuriko paused at the thought, before turning around to the girl. "Yes… I… See what you are saying. I… Thank you. I won't give up yet."

He then opened up his menu and said to the girl, "What's your name?"

Seeing that he was calming down a little bit, the girl smirked at him. "Mari. Mari Mao. Yours?"

"Yuriko Fujibayashi."

With that, he sent a friend request to her which she promptly accepted.

"See you later, Mari-san. We may meet again. If you want to talk or whatever, my house is outside of the town," replied Yuriko before he left the cave.

"See ya, Yuriko-san!"

Something told him that Mari would be stopping by his house, so he made a point not to stay there too often, preferring to be alone in the first place.

* * *

…_**.Two Months Later…**_

* * *

Yuriko began to walk to town, reading that there was a meeting about the progression of beating the game. Deep down, he knew that someone had found the boss to get to the next level, and they were going to plan to take out the boss and make some progress. However, he knew that because no one had found, let alone clear, the boos room, many people had given up on trying, and morale was dangerously low for the players.

Along the way, he stopped by the shop to buy new weapons and armor. Since he defeated the boss, he had almost never stopped grinding up on his level, reminding himself that if he was stronger, Rin would still be with him. The death of Rin had weighed heavily upon him, and he was just as mad that he was just about to throw away his life. Now, he wanted to kill Kayaba Akihiko more.

He walked down towards the amphitheater, taking a seat in one of the upper levels, almost as if he was taking a seat his level compared to the others around him. In his own opinion, he was probably one of the highest leveled players here, but wouldn't bet money on it. Shaking his head, he listened to the man in the middle- a large white man with red spikey hair and using a two handed swords.

"Looks like it's time to being the meeting!" he announced, clapping his hands together. Many people began to quiet down as the man began to talk.

"First off, let me introduce myself. I am, Masa Takeo, kind of… the tank for most people."

He paused for a moment, before continuing; "Now you guys might be wondering why I called you here today. Well, I've got some important news: the boss room has been found, and it is clear that there is no way we can kill it without working together. I've already figured out how we should take this beast on, as I was in the beta and I know its tactics."

Masa stopped, walking forward a little. "The boss, who is known as Illfang the Kobold Lord, spawns with minions. These minions are meant to be distractions for him. Anyways, first we need everyone to get into groups."

Looking around, Yuriko walked towards the closest group of people, speaking to them, "Hey, mind if I join your group? I came here… alone…"

The supposed leader shrugged his shoulders, before replying, "I don't see why not. What's your level?"

"21."

The leader quirked and eyebrow at the answer, before speaking, "Alright… sounds good to me. Don't think these guys object either. My name is Seiryo Shimizu, or just Sei. Welcome to the team…?"

"Yuriko Fujibayashi, preferably Yuriko."

With that, Sei sent a invitation to join the party, before turning towards Masa.

"Now that everyone is has a group, I think we should start dictating what each group is doing. Now, Group A is…"

* * *

…_**A few hours later…**_

* * *

Yuriko, by then, had departed from his party, deeming that he spent enough time with them. Also, he had socialized enough for the day. Shaking his head, he recalled how anti-social he was in real life. He arrived in the center of town, which contained a large fountain, many players walking about the square, generally talking with friends. By then, the clear blue skies had changed to dark, indicating it was night time.

Sighing deeply, he walked towards fountain as he had nothing better to do, and he did not want to head back to his house just yet. Something told him that if he went, either Mari would be there, or he would get side-tracked grinding and would not get any sleep.

Yuriko stopped in front of the fountain, staring at the reflecting image of him. On the outside, he looked just like he did two-months ago, but he knew that time was still going on in real life, which meant that he was getting older by the minute. A pang of sadness hit him, as he then realized that he was losing his life slowly. Time in this game meant time lost in real life. Yuriko then recollected that Rin was dead, and his family would never see him again, nor would they hear his sarcastic statements, bad jokes, and ridiculous puns. He grit his teeth and kicked the base of the fountain lightly, angry at this game, at Kayaba.

"I'm going home…" grumbled the player as he turned the corner… and ran into a girl and stumbling backwards.

Much to Yuriko dismay, he accidentally knocked down the girl, making him frown. The girl, who had azure hair, easily reaching to her shoulders, strangely white eyes, with an almost fragile looking body type, stared back up at him.

"Ah… sorry…" he apologized, offering his hand to help her up. "I wasn't looking where I was going… kind of irritated at something."

The girl took the hand, and he pulled her up with somewhat ease.

"It's fine… though you need to look where you going. Who knows who will get mad if you bump into them on accident? They may get mad and challenge you to a duel or something…"

"Yeah. Couldn't agree more. This whole game just makes people go insane for the littlest of things."

He paused for a moment, before saying, "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Yuriko Fujibayashi. Once, again, sorry for bumping into you…"

" Just call me 'Cyan.' "

"… Cyan?"

"Cyan."

"…Okay then, Cyan. Good luck in the game. Maybe we will see each other later."

"Good bye, Yuriko-san."

With that, Yuriko walked away, thinking to himself, "Something seems off about her… I bet I will be seeing her again in the near future…"

* * *

Yuriko arrived back into his house, shutting the door behind him. Ever since Rin died, he felt like the house was a lot more quite. That was probably why he did not want to come back to his house only but so much, or why he just continually grinded up levels. The silence made him feel alone, and unnerved him. He had to get out whenever he stayed in the home for long periods of time unless he was asleep.

Snapping out of the trance he was in, he moved towards the bed room and lay down on the bed, not bothering to take off his armor. Knowing his luck, he opted out of taking off his armor because he felt that he would sleep in a little, and would wake up late for the rendezvous to go to the boss room.

Moments began to drift on, before he finally fell asleep, a dreamless night lying ahead of him.

* * *

_Thanks for those who have submitted an OC thus far! In the next chapter I will be putting in the OC's author's original name, but if you are one of the owners and do not wish your name to be added, send me a PM._

_I plan to update either Friday of this week or Monday of the next, so keep a look out!_

_Until next time, Carbon839_


	3. Chapter 2

_A/N: Holy bejeezus, I opened up my PM Inbox today and had more than 1 or 2 PMs! Like 5+! Woo! Things are looking good so far in terms of OCs, and I might stop accepting soon. That means go ahead and submit your OC before it's too late! _

_Also, when I finished the prologue, I began to rewatch SAO at the same time, and I saw that I missed so many little details! Sorry for anyone who noticed and was mad at me!_

_Finally, I am trying a change of format, please tell me if you like it or not._

_Anyways, time for the disclaimer._

_Disclaimer: _

_Do not own SAO, nor do I own some of the OCs. I only own Yuriko._

* * *

**Chapter 2**

* * *

**Floor 1, Dungeon 1: Boss Room**

"Alright, guys and girls, we are almost to the boss room. Remember what the boss' strategy is: Ilfang starts with an axe and shield combo, as well with three or four sentinels. Groups A and B, led by Mutsuko and Toshiaki, will be the primary tank groups, absorbing or deflecting the damage Ilfang is doing. Groups C and D, led by Sei and I, will be the primary damage dealers, doing as much damage to the boss as possible. Group E will deal damage and try and destroy the sentinels. Lastly, Groups F and G will be the support groups. Remember to cast 'Delay' on the bosses and sentinels, and healing the other groups as much as possible."

While I will be leading Group C, I will still be giving general orders to everyone else, so keep an ear out for me. This goes for both leaders and normal players." Masa announced to the group as they approached the boss doors.

He then turned around and looked at the group before him. Many of them looked nervous, others looked confident. Masa knew that overconfidence would be the downfall of many if they are not careful.

"I know that some of you may be scared or nervous about what we are about to do… but this is not just for us. No, this is for everyone stuck in this game, everyone who had died looking for this room. If we fail here, the people may lose faith in winning, and will give up altogether. We cannot let this happen. We must win at all costs, to show that we can beat this game, and we can get out of here alive!"

Masa's words hit the hearts of many of the players, who looked a little more confident in the upcoming battle. Yuriko, however, did not allow the words get to him. He already knew that at this point and time, the stakes were very high, and they should be able to beat it. However, the realist inside of him was telling him that anything could go wrong and lead to the destruction of the raiding party. He would not allow it.

With that, Masa turned to the massive, red metal doors and pushed them open with one hand, before drawing both his sword and shield. "Let's do this."

The groups began to walk into the boss room door, their weapons drawn, keeping an eye out for Ilfang. As they arrived in the center of the room, which had many pillars, along with stained glass on the roof and walls, the Kobold Lord revealed himself and leapt forth. The scouting party was correct, as the monster did have an axe and shield already drawn by the time it landed.

The groups immediately went to action, the tank groups rushing forth with their shields raised, support groups ready to use their abilities or pets, if they have one, to heal the groups, the extra group distracting and destroying the sentinels that rushed to action. Everything was going to plan; even the most nervous people seemed to think that they were going to complete the battle with not a single casualty.

Yuriko's group was doing their job quite well, especially with the help of him. During the battle, Yuriko was decided to be the primary damage dealer, as he had the highest one-handed attack damage output. The others primarily opened up a means to attack for him. The case seemed the same for the other group, who decided that one of their members would be the primary damage dealer also. However, this did not mean that the others in the groups did almost nothing. Instead, they also did as much damage as possible, but their main objective was creating openings for the primary damage dealers.

"Yuriko, over here!" called out one player, Yuriko appearing moments later. It was surprising that his allies could create openings so quickly.

Suddenly, Ilfang knocked everyone back with his shield, damaging many of the players. He reached behind him and reached behind him to take out his talwar, as the Beta Testers said he was supposed to bring out.

Masa smirked, before shouting out, "Group D, circle him and get ready to attack him. We end this now!"

Quickly getting into formation, Group D failed to realize that some of the members in the groups HP were getting dangerously low.

"On 3, we strike!"

"1…"

"2…"

Before Masa could shout out three, Ilfang ripped out his nodaichi and charged it up. With a quick spin, he managed to hit every member of Group D circling him. All of them were stunned and knocked back, some of them losing their entire HP and, upon landing on the ground, exploded into a million polygons.

Masa survived the initial attack, but was still stunned standing up. The other groups were shocked at what just happened, at the players who were no longer with them anymore. Yuriko's mouth hung open slightly, not fully comprehending what just happened. The plan, that was working out so well, began to fall apart. People began to panic, backing away. The support and tank groups dispersed so they could no longer stand together. The group tasked with fighting the sentinels began to be wiped out, losing everyone in the group. Masa's group was either dead or paralyzed. The only group that could keep on task was Yuriko's group.

"Okay… we need to get some of these people out of paralysis," Sei announced to the party, taking out a paralysis potion. Everyone nodded… except Yuriko.

"We need someone to distract the boss though. I volunteer," he said.

"…Okay. Be careful though. We cannot afford to lose someone else right now."

With that, the group dispersed, Yuriko sprinting at Ilfang with his dagger out. "Come on you big ape… fight me…"

Ilfang roared loudly and turned his attention towards Yuriko, before looking at the support group, who at the time began to reform. He then charged up his nodaichi and charged in the direction of the support group. Reacting quickly, Yuriko dashed in front of the beast and did a quick uppercut and deflected the weapon of Ilfang upwards, stopping his charge. This only pissed off the monster as he then slammed his fist into Yuriko's stomach, sending him flying backwards.

"Dammit…" he grunted, struggling to stand up.

Ilfang leapt towards Yuriko, his nodaichi charging up once more. In a feeble attempt, Yuriko rolled away from Ilfang, but was still struck by the blade of the monster, stunning Yuriko.

"No!" he cried out, knowing that everything is going to fail.

Helplessly, Yuriko watched as Ilfang turned around, his attention going to the support groups that have almost regrouped- almost. He leapt into the air, crossing the battle between Yuriko's group and the sentinels, and landing almost on top of the support groups. Many of them were knocked up and around.

"Someone, do something!" cried the downed player as he watched as Ilfang began to cut down the support players mercilessly. No one was being spared by this monster. The last remaining support tried to dash away from Ilfang… but he was far too slow. The beast's weapon pierced through the player's chest, making him cry out in pain. He reached out desperately for the closest person, his eyes almost telling anyone around him that he did not want to die, not this way. Ilfang did not care. He ripped the blade out of the player's chest, before watching as thousands of polygons exploded from the player. With that, the rest of the supports were gone.

Yuriko struggled with all of his might against his stun, but he could not move. Not even an inch. Anger and pain surged through him as he cried out incoherently, begging for someone to help him. Lucky for him, Sei made his way over to him, a paralysis potion at the ready. Yuriko watched as behind him, the sentinels began to get the upper-hand on the remaining players, taking out at least one or two players per sentinel. Sei finally applied to potion, before giving Yuriko a grim smile.

"Don't worry. You will get out of this, I as-"

He was then cut off by a nodaichi piercing through his chest, nearly stabbing into Yuriko. Sei's eyes shot open, before he reached down to touch the weapon in his chest. The blade was removed, before Sei fell over to the ground.

He then gave a melancholic smile to Yuriko, who was desperately trying to find a health potion in his pouch.

"Y-Yuriko…" he started to say, trying to ignore the fact that he was going to die soon.

"Don't waste your energy… I promise you I will get you out of here."

"Yuriko… never… never ever, no matter the odds, no matter how scared or worried you are, never give up. I-I… I see you bringing an end to this game… you will be the hero that everyone in this game needs. K-Kayaba did not think about people like you when making this game… the people who, despite being knocked down, will get back up, and continue fighting for freedom… fight for those who are… lost…"

As Sei uttered the last word, he exploded into polygons, leaving Yuriko alone against Ilfang and the remaining sentinels. No one was alive… except him.

The pent up anger and pain finally began to overflow as Yuriko reached for his dagger and took it out.

"You killed them all… Kayaba, if you can hear me… I guarantee you that I will beat this game… and I will find you, and destroy you. Be afraid. Be very afraid."

He then charged up his dagger and sprinted towards Ilfang, the sentinels trying to block his path. Due to the sacrifices of everyone, Ilfang and his sentinels were all really low health, the minions needing only a couple of hits before being killed, the boss requiring some more, but nothing impossible.

Yuriko jumped into the air, trying to land behind Ilfang- which he did successfully. He did a 180 degree turn, stabbing the boss in the side. He then pulled the dagger out, slingshotting him to the front of Ilfang, simultaneously slashing the boss in the stomach. Yuriko then reversed the grip he had on the dagger, before plunging it into the beast's stomach. Using as much force as he could muster, he launched himself in the air, his dagger still in hand on the way down. One last time, he switched the grip on his dagger so that the blade was facing towards the kobold lord.

"Die!" cried Yuriko charged up the blade, both hands gripping onto the handle of the dagger.

The blade then impacted into the monster's skull, the remaining amount of HP depleting to zero. Ilfang roared out loudly, before finally exploding into polygons himself. The minions despawned almost immediately afterwards.

Yuriko was then left alone in the dark room. The light that used to encompass the room was now long gone, leaving only darkness. It was almost completely silent; the only sound was Yuriko gasping for air. He ignored the reward screen that had appeared in front of him, not wanting to look at it. A mixture of anger and sadness began to overcome him, before tears began to stream down his cheeks.

"Why..?"

* * *

Somewhere else…

* * *

**Floor 1, 3****rd**** Town**

"I wonder where Yuriko went off to this morning…" commented Mari as she walked into town, hoping to find the other player.

As she arrived into town, Mari stopped and looked around the market, trying to see if Yuriko was there. Much to her disappointment, he was not there. With a light shrug, she walked towards the marketplace, wondering if the blacksmiths had anything new up for sale. Another disappointment hit her as she found out there was nothing new or better than her current equipment, mainly due to the fact that most of the 'high' quality resources have become scarce.

"Ah well… it was well worth the look at least," she shrugged, before walking back towards the square.

Along the way, Mari saw a player with short, raven-black hair and azure eyes, along with a black wolf-cub type familiar, lecturing the new players in the center of town. Intrigued, she walked over to the group and listened intently.

"…As I said before, be careful of the people who you are dealing with. Many of them could be PKers, Player Killers, or scammers. They are very dangerous, as they look out for no one but themselves. Alright guys? Now get to grinding! You need to be strong to be able to take on the monsters in Aincrad! Isn't that right Lancelot?"

As if on cue, the wolf-cub yipped loudly, but he still stayed a small distance away from the other players.

The player finished his lecture, before allowing the players run off.

"Excellent lecture! I bet those new kids are now much better off because of what you taught them! Do you do this often?" Mari asked, walking over to him, the cub growling in the direction of Mari.

"Down, Lancelot... Oh, yeah. I do it quite often, mainly because… well I don't like the idea of someone dying in this terrible game. Especially those who did not know what they were getting themselves in to…"

"Yeah, couldn't agree more…"

The two stopped talking, before the other player asked, "What is your name?"

"Mari Mao. But you can call me whatever suits you best."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mari-san. I'm Gawain. This is my familiar, Lancelot. Say 'hi' Lancelot!"

Again, the wolf eyed Mari curiously, not barking, but not approaching her.

"Sorry, he is not too friendly to people he doesn't know."

"No, it's fine. I know a dog like that in real life. He is kinda cute anyways."

Chuckling lightly, Gawain replied, "Don't try to pet him. He is not to… ah… keen on strangers petting him. Might bite you."

Another silence passed over him, before Mari realized that Gawain might know where Yuriko is.

"Have you seen a player about my height, brown hair that extends past his ears, brown eyes… uses a dagger?"

The player thought for a moment, before saying, "Sorry… there are a lot of players like that wondering around here."

Another disappointment. "Ah well, thank you anyways. I'll see you later, Gawain-san!"

As Mari began to walk away, Gawain got an idea.

"Mari-san, wait!"

Turning around, she asked, "Yeah?"

"Did he go on the Raid Party that wanted to take out the boss? He might be there, if anything. What level is he?"

"…Yeah, he might have gone there. Do you know where it is?"

Smiling brightly, Gawain replied, "Yeah, come with me, I'll show you."

As she jogged over to him, a girl walked to him, ignoring Lancelot's growling, asking, and "Are you going to the boss room?"

"Um… yeah…"

"Take me with you." The request was more like a demand than a want.

Gawain looked at Mari, who shrugged, not having an opinion either way.

"I don't see why not. Before we go, what is your name?"

"Cyan"

"…Cyan?" Mari and Gawain said simultaneously.

"Yes. Cyan."

"Cyan."

"…Cyan."

Exchanging glances, Mari said, "I'm Mari and he's Gawain. The wolf-cub is Lancelot."

"…Nice to meet you, Cyan. If you're ready, let's go to the boss room."

With that, the three players, and one wolf, left the town square, heading towards the distant forest.

* * *

Sometime later…

* * *

**Floor 1, Boss Room**

"So this is where the boss is?" questioned Mari as they walked towards the shut doors of the supposed boss room.

"This should be it. I aided in finding it after all," chuckled the guy.

"Then time is wasting," Cyan stated, opening the doors with ease.

Initially, they were met with almost complete silence, aside from what could be assumed the ambient noise that Kayaba put into the game, making it slightly unnerving. The group walked down the stairs, weapons drawn, in case the boss was still alive. As they reached the floor, they noticed a lone figure on their knees. The darkness made it difficult to see the person's face, but Mari could make a guess who that it was.

"Yuriko-san!" she called out to him, but earned no reply. He did not even move a muscle.

Mari moved over to him, before asking in a more quiet tone, "Yuriko-san, where is everyone?"

No response.

Cyan and Gawain exchanged looks, before Cyan spoke up, "Yeah, where are they?"

"All… dead…" he whispered out.

That didn't sit well with Gawain, who spoke out, "No… I doubt that…"

"Then where are they?"

No one spoke up. Complete silence passed over them, before Mari asked in a gentle tone, "Are… are you okay?"

By then, Yuriko turned his head towards her, and she gasped softly. How he looked, it was disheartening. His eyes seemed to be empty, staring off into the distance as if focused on something that was not there.

Yuriko then uttered, "No… I'm not. This is a burden I must bear…"

Mentally, he was not far off. He knew that this would affect him, but he must press on, for those who had died.

"Enough about me… the next floor has opened up. We must press on."

He stood up and looked at the others in the room, before asking aloud, "Who is this guy?"

"Gawain. It is a pleasure to meet you… Yuriko I suppose?"

"Yes… that would be me. It is nice to see you again, Cyan."

Nodding slightly, a silence fell upon the group, as nothing had to be said. Yuriko stood up and opened up his menu, clicking on his inventory. A flashing light appeared on his inventory, showing that he had a new item in his inventory. He stared at it for a moment, a sad smirk crawling across his face.

"Too ironic…"

With that, he pressed the item, and Yuriko was enveloped in a white light, which quickly faded, revealing his new armor. It looked normal enough, but a few key features set it out from the starter armor. First was the metal, spikey, shoulder pads, and the other was the red cape, which was torn up and singed in several places, but wrapped around to his face, only showing anything from his nose up. Armor of the Fallen certainly fit its name, as it gave away this feeling of grief or pain, and it made Yuriko seem all the gloomier.

"Anyways… I suppose that we should go ahead and start on the next floor. Maybe we can get out of this game by Christmas," he said, almost trying to convince himself to be positive.

"Gawain, Cyan… you're more than welcome to join us," he went on, looking over to the other two.

Shrugging slightly, Cyan spoke up, "I don't see why now."

"Fine with me."

After Gawain gave his answer, Yuriko started off towards the stairs, the others following him. Deep down, Yuriko just wanted to leave and forget what happened here. However, he knew that this was not the end of the pain he will endure. No, he would never forget what happened on Floor 1.

* * *

**Months later...**

* * *

**Floor 22, Safe zone 3**

"So, that's what the NPC's have been saying, eh?" asked Yuriko, looking up from his meal for a moment.

"Yeah. Some Christmas Themed boss is supposed to spawn and drop some rare item. Rumor has it that the item is a revival item," Mari replied to him, which caught his attention.

"Wait… I thought Kayaba removed revival items?" Gawain questioned, looking over at Mari.

"Maybe he forgot to remove it from the game," the other girl replied, taking a bite out of her bread.

Yuriko digested the information for a moment, before putting down his bread and saying, "Well… I don't know. We should just go ahead and defeat the boss… maybe that will deter anyone trying to go and take on the boss themselves."

Nodding, the group got up from their table at the tavern, dropping the coL on the table and leaving the room.

As the group left the inn, they did not notice the player trailing them behind him, before dashing off into the shadows, off to tell the local red guild about the groups endeavor.

* * *

_A/N: Er… sorry for the lack of OCs being introduced. I plan on introducing more next chapter._

_Thank you for reading, and as always, read and review!_


	4. Chapter 3

_A/N:_

_Sorry for not posting the chapter on Monday, I was pretty busy all weekend. _

_Thank you for those who've read thus far! Even more so to those who have reviewed! I do actually read the reviews, so keep that in mind._

_Also, this is the last chapter that you will be able to send in an OC, afterwards applications will be CLOSED. (In layman's terms: Once Chapter 4 is released; I won't accept any more OCs.) _

_Uhm… that's about it… I guess… DISCLAIMER, GO!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own SAO, only Yuriko._

**Chapter 3**

**Floor 22, Unknown Forest**

"W-where am I?" Yuriko murmured to himself, his senses coming back to him slowly.

He couldn't remember how he got into the forest, but he did know one thing; he was not alone. Footsteps were heard behind him, and he drew his dagger… only to find it wasn't there. His eyes went wide with shock and fear, knowing being without a weapon is a fatal error. He attempted to open his menu, but it would not respond.

"Shit…" the player whispered to himself, moving towards a tree so he could hide behind.

The footsteps progressively louder and closer, until they stopped for a moment, seemingly in front of the tree he was hiding behind. He felt the urge to look around the tree, but he fought against it. Despite not wanting to, he felt his head peek around the corner, enough to see Sei staring back at him.

Exhaling deeply, he smiled, before saying, "Sei! You scared me!"

Sei didn't reply to him, his eyes burning a hole into Yuriko's skull.

"Sei?"

No reply, not even his body moved. Silence fell upon them for a brief moment, before the other player drew his sword and yelled something incoherent, before swinging his sword at Yuriko.

"What the hell?! What's gotten into you, Sei?"

Once again, Sei didn't reply, only swinging downward upon Yuriko, who rolled out of the way. He then turned around to run away, but ran straight into Masa, who had his sword and shield drawn.

"Masa, please talk some sense into Sei! He's gone insane or something!"

Unfortunately, Masa ignored Yuriko's words and bashed him with his shield, knocking him to the ground.

"What the… hell is wrong with you guys?" he coughed out, before trying to stand up. He then received a kick to his ribs, knocking him down.

Yuriko was then flipped onto his back, seeing everyone who died in the boss battle staring down upon him.

"Yuriko… you didn't do your best… and we all died due to your inability to do anything… For that you must die!"

Before Yuriko could respond, he felt the sword impale him through his stomach- which was the worst pain he had felt in his lifetime. He screamed and thrashed about, the pain overcoming any senses he had. In the corner of his eye, he saw his life bar slowly begin to deplete, reaching red, and then completely running out. The player watched as his body slowly turning to polygons, then…

…

**Floor 22, Yuriko's Inn Room**

Gasping deeply, Yuriko sat up from his bed that he rented for the night. His heart was beating in hyper drive, a cold sweat drenching him. Slowly, his heart rate began to decrease, and he began to calm down once more. Exhaling, the player laid back in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He took note of the darkness outside, wondering if it was about time for him to get ready for the boss fight.

"Just… just a nightmare…" he reminded himself, trying to make him think positive.

He checked the time on his HUD, before sighing.

"About time for me to get up anyways…"

Yuriko slowly got out of the bed, leaving the room and walking to the nearby tavern that the group decided to meet at before heading to the supposed boss area.

…

**Floor 22, Local Tavern**

Time began to wear on, and finally Gawain showed up to the tavern, before taking a seat across from Yuriko.

"Morning, Yuriko-chan!"

"…chan?"

"…Erm… sorry?"

"If you call me 'Yuriko-chan' one more time, I swear, I wi-"

"Hey guys!" called out Mari, completely cutting off Yuriko's threat.

"Hello everyone," Cyan said to the other three as she walked into the room.

"Morning you two. You guys ready?" questioned Gawain, ignoring what Yuriko was about to say.

"…Yeah, I want to get out there as soon as possible."

"Of course! Let's go!" Mari said, cheerful as always.

Nodding, Yuriko and Gawain stood up from their seats, then moved towards the exit, once again not noticing the dark figure that was silently stalking them from the shadows.

…

**Floor 22, Near the town**

"Wait, it's not here?!" exclaimed Gawain as the broker gave them information about the Christmas boss.

"No… it is on a higher floor," the figure mumbled, before turning around and walking away.

"…That's great…" sighed Yuriko, kicking a rock into a tree.

"This was just a waste of time… Mari-san, whoever gave you the information lied to you. Don't trust them with anything."

"Yeah… sorry about that, guys," she sighed, leaning against a tree.

"No problem. I suppose we should just grind up a little here. What level is everyone?"

"46" announced Mari.

"45" Cyan spoke to the others, opening up her player status.

"45… what about you, Yuriko?"

"…54…"

Everyone stared at Yuriko with wide eyes.

"…Sorry, I don't sleep that well at night, so I just grind up levels…" he lied, the real reason was that he could be strong enough to keep everyone safe, but he didn't want to say that. The last time he said that…

"Yuriko, you alright, man? You look like you just saw a ghost," Gawain asked, walking over to him.

"…Never better…" sighed the other player, shaking his head.

"I do think some level grinding is in order. Although, I don't think that here would be a good location, as the mobs are… not that strong in the first place," Mari spoke, snapping Yuriko out of his trance.

"How about the dungeon to the next level? That way, we can also have a map for it whenever a raid party is formed," suggested Cyan, who turned back to the others.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Le-"

Once again, Yuriko was cut off by the sounds of rapidly approaching footsteps. He froze immediately, the nightmare coming back for a moment. The group drew their weapons, waiting whatever was approaching them. Deep down, they hoped it was just a mob group, or something of the sort, and not a boss. They were partially correct.

"Get them!" cried out a player, dashing into the clearing that they were standing.

Immediately, the group was encircled by a group of Orange players, who were smirking at them, thinking they over leveled and out manned them by a long shot. The supposed ringleader walked forward to give his demands.

"Look what we have here, guys… some players who lost their way…" the leader chuckled, taking out his two handed greatsword.

Yuriko glanced back at the others, before speaking to the overbearing man, "I do not recommend that you mess with this group or anyone ever again."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because we will take you and your group down without a second thought. And I will make sure that you will go to jail or receive the proper punishment. Either that, or I will kill you where you stand as a show of force, because I don't give a damn if people do not like me if I killed someone, because I know that I fought to protect my allies."

The leader laughed at Yuriko, before holding up his sword and dropping his arm down, meaning the rest of the Orange Guild charged at them.

"Don't try to kill them, just weaken them," Yuriko muttered to the rest of the group, before dashing by the charge, appearing in front of the leader.

"Look what we have here… the valiant player, who allowed his comrades to die at Floor 1, allowed his friend die so he could have a house to himself. Hah! You're no better than me!"

"How do yo-"

"I've done my research, Yuriko Fujibayashi, and I know what you've done and what level you are, and some of the loot you have. I know your strategies, your favorite combos, weapons, and some stuff you'd wish that others will never know."

"What?! How?!"

"Let's just leave it at this; the key advantage to have over anyone is the advantage of knowledge. Let's stop stalling. Shall we fight?"

Yuriko clenched his teeth, before nodding, before trying to jump back out of the range of the leader's great-sword, but failed and was slashed across the chest, his health getting hit pretty hard.

"Damn… faster than he looks…" muttered Yuriko, before dashing directly at the man, then past him a little, before swinging his dagger behind him and stabbing it into the back of his opponent.

Much to his surprise, the man only laughed.

"Is that the best you can do? I thought you would be much stronger than that!"

Frowning, Yuriko turned on his heel and faced the man again, only to be forced to roll out of the way of a downward slash.

Meanwhile, Mari, Gawain, and Cyan were busy fighting off the rest of the Orange Guild. However, it was quite difficult due to the fact that they could not kill them.

"We can't keep fighting like this! They will eventually just overrun us!" shouted Cyan as she knocked back one of the aggressors.

"You're telling me. They just keep coming with no end in sight!" Mari replied, parrying an attack away from her.

Gawain was focused on shouting out commands to Lancelot, keeping him out of the conversation.

Despite their best efforts, the group slowly began to lose their health, dropping from green to yellow, to closing into the red portion of the health bar.

"Even your friends are not even that strong! Hah! You're barely worth fighting!" laughed the leader as he kicked Yuriko to the ground.

Trying to stand up, Yuriko called out to the others, "Guys, go back to town, I will meet you there!"

"Bu-"

"No 'buts!' Go!"

Sighing angrily, Mari dashed off into the forest, Cyan, Gawain, and Lancelot following afterwards.

"Okay… this should be pretty easy to escape…" mumbled the remaining party member as he watched the men surround him.

The leader laughed, before speaking to him, "Just give up and give us your items. We _might _spare you."

Yuriko was silent for a moment, before chuckling at the leader.

"Just try."

This only irritated the leader, as most of the time his prey would be more fearful of him.

"Kill him."

Immediately, the Orange Guild charged at him, all of their weapons drawn, seeking the virtual blood of Yuriko. Reacting quickly, the last party member targeted the leader, who was standing outside of the group, and dashed past him, his dagger cutting into the side of him. In return, however, the man slashed into Yuriko's side, making his health drop into the red portion of it.

"Dammit…" he growled, continuing his sprint onwards, not looking back for a moment. In the distance, he heard the laugh of the leader, knowing that they would fight again someday.

…

**Sometime later…**

…

Yuriko began to slow down, the adrenaline he had coursing through him earlier finally wearing off.

"That… hurt…" he muttered, hunching over and grabbing his side where the man slashed into him.

He reached for his health potion pouch, but did not find it there. The player felt a throb of pain hit him, making him cringe slightly. The pain began to intensify slightly, to the point of it being unbearable. His view of his surroundings turned red, indicating that his health was dropping.

"Fuck…" he managed to croak out, before falling to the ground, unconscious.

…

**Meanwhile…**

…

**Floor 22, Town 1**

Mari, Gawain, and Cyan were all standing in the town square, recovering from the earlier battle. They were quiet, their health points regenerating over time. No words were spoken; even Lancelot was quiet, as he was asleep next to his owner.

Mari finally decided to break the silence, saying, "Well… what now?"

"We wait for Yuriko to contact us or come back. We cannot go out and look for him, as the guild may be looking for us," Cyan suggested, her expression stoic.

"No, we cannot just leave him out there alone! What if he was captured? Or worse?!" Gawain protested.

"And what? Throw our lives away just for the sake of one person? That is not a good idea, Gawain, face it. We will give him a few days, and if he has not turned up, we leave. That's it."

"She has a point, Gawain," Mari added, looking at the other players.

Gawain did not offer any other input, seeing that he was outnumbered.

"…Fine…" he sighed, giving up.

Although they may or may not have shown it, each player was worried for their friend. Any loss is not good, especially if it was one of their close friends that had lead them to be one of the strongest groups in the game.

"…What do we do until then?" questioned Mari, looking to Cyan, the de-facto leader of the group.

"I guess we try and communicate with him, or just ask some players if they've seen him."

"Okay. Well I'll be at the market place if you guys need me. Hope I find a better weapon…" Gawain said aloud, before walking away.

Mari and Cyan soon parted ways, after trying to message Yuriko.

…

**Later…**

…

**Floor 22, Unknown Location**

"Ugh…"

Yuriko groaned, regaining consciousness. He felt out of place, not knowing where he was at all. He could only figure out that he was in a bed, located in a room, to which he did not know where that was located.

"Good. You're awake."

The voice caught him off guard; he tried to reach for his dagger, but could not find it, or its sheath.

"Don't worry, I don't mean to hurt you. In fact… I need your help," the voice said.

Yuriko could tell it was a guy, probably around 16. He was correct. A player stepped forth from the doorway, Yuriko mentally slapped himself because he failed to look there. The boy was a little shorter to him, but he had the advantage of strength over him, black hair that was about average length, hazel eyes that gazed back at Yuriko. No way could Yuriko take him on in a fight. He pushed the thought aside, listening to what the other had to say.

"I found you in the forest nearby. You were knocked out, about to die from the poison. I… I brought you back here, so once you woke up, I could get you to help me as repayment."

Sighing deeply, Yuriko then said, "What do you need?"

"Well… were you attacked by an orange guild around here?"

Nodding his head slightly, Yuriko then asked, "What of it?"

"…They took my partner, and I cannot take them on myself. I think you would want some revenge, also."

"What is your name, then?"

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. Takashi Kida."

Yuriko weighed the chances of just him and Takashi taking on the orange guild and able to rescue his friend, escaping without any casualties.

"Yuriko Fujibayashi. I do not know how we are going to take on the guild, as when I was ambushed, it was me and three other players with a wolf alongside us, and we could only last so long. I think we have to infiltrate their base and break your friend free."

Takashi toyed with the thought for a moment, before nodding.

"I know where their base is… although I don't know what is on the inside."

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem, as long as we are careful about it. How high is your sneak skill?"

"Around 400."

"Okay… I can work with that. Let's go ahead and move towards the-"

"You aren't healed yet, Yuriko."

It took Yuriko a moment to notice that his health seemed a little lower than usual, even at maximum HP.

"Remembered, you got poisoned. I guess one of the effects is that it lowers your maximum HP for a period of time. I dunno, I've never messed too much with poisons or anything of the sort."

Sighing deeply, Yuriko then spoke, "I don't think my lowered health will be too much of a problem, as we are trying to be sneaky about this. Right?"

"Good point. I will be outside. Your gear is in the chest over there."

With that, the player departed the room, leaving Yuriko to his thoughts.

"…First things first… I have to message the others to tell them that I am alright…"

He opened up his messaging center, seeing that they have already sent him a couple of messages.

"Great…" he sighed, before typing up a message and sending it to Mari. Afterwards he stood up and collected his gear, then left to meet up with Takashi.

…

**Sometime Later…**

…

**Floor 22, Town Square**

"Wait, so what exactly is he doing?" questioned Gawain, raising an eyebrow.

"He didn't say. All he said was just go on ahead, and he will meet up with us later. Yuriko also mentioned something about finding new players to join our group," she replied, closing her menu.

Cyan listened for a moment, before nodding.

"Well we do what he wants. Let's go," she said, before quickly moving on.

Gawain shrugged, following quickly afterwards. Mari hesitated for a moment, before sighing and following after the other two.

…

**Later…**

…

**Floor 22, Near the Boss Dungeon**

"So where is the boss dungeon supposed to be? I'm tired of all this walking…" Gawain complained.

"It supposed to be near here. At least, near here…" sighed Cyan, who was looking a little frustrated about this whole ordeal.

Mari, meanwhile, had stopped for a moment, as she heard something… or someone.

"Do you guys hear that?" she whispered to them, lowering her voice in case they were being watched.

The other two went silent, before hearing a cry for help.

"I heard that! Let's go!" Gawain called out, before starting to run off.

"Wait! What if it is a trap?" Cyan asked as she stuck her arm out to stop him- only to knock him to the ground, and in response Lancelot began to bark at the girl.

"Gah! Was that really necessary?!"

"Yes and no… you did it yours-"

"Back to the matter at hand, we need to at least check it out!" Mari stated, drawing her spear.

Cyan looked over at Mari, before nodding her head. Gawain jumped up, which made the wolf-pup stop barking. The group dashed off, trying to find the source of the noise. They arrived to find a girl, looking around 18 years old, long, blonde hair that falls down to her mid back, bright green eyes, with a curvy body-type. She was surrounded by a group of players, to which Cyan assumed was the same people from earlier.

The girl took notice of the others and called out to them, "Now that you've finished gawking, can you help me or something?!"

Gawain jumped into action, shouting an order at Lancelot, who charged into one of the aggressors, easily knocking them down. Mari and Cyan followed the wolf-pup, taking out their weapons and rushing to the aid of the other girl.

One of the players looked to the leader of the supposed orange guild, who nodded his head.

"Fall back! This bitch isn't worth it…"

With that, the group sprinted off, Lancelot barking after them. The girl sighed in relief, before smiling brightly to the group.

"Hey! Thank you for saving me… I thought I was a goner…"

"Heh… no problem!" Gawain returned the smile, offering a hand for a handshake, "What's your name?"

"Evangeline Maddox, though you can just call me angel. And you guys are..?"

"Mari Mao"

"Akiyuki Harushi, though you can call me Gawain. And this is Lancelot" At that moment, Lancelot barks in the direction of Angel.

"Cyan."

Angel looked puzzled for a moment, before asking, "Cyan?"

"Yes. Cyan. Why do people think that is a weird name?"

"Oh, I don't know, just the fact that people are not called by colors, like red, black, or white."

Cyan seemed a little irritated at the newcomer's reply, but Angel did not seem to care at all.

"So what are you three doing out here?"

"We are simply looking for the boss dungeon, nothing more. Can't make progress by sitting back at the town and doing nothing forever," Gawain replied, crouching down to pet Lancelot.

"Oh really now? Hm… I might need to join you on this adventure! I'd like to help anyone who is trying to beat this game."

"I don't th-" Cyan started, before being interrupted by Gawain

"Okay, that sounds good! Right, Mari?"

Mari snapped out of her trance-like state, before giving a shrug of not really caring either way.

"Then it is decided! Do you need supplies or anything? I'm sure we can spare something."

Angel shook her head in response. "I just recently came out here, so I'm well stocked. Shall we get moving?"

With that, the group set off to continue the search of the dungeon, not knowing where it was or what lies ahead of them.

* * *

_A/N: Remember, this is the last chance you have to submit an OC! I have plenty now, but if you want to submit one PM me! For those who've submitted an OC previously, I will open up the opportunity to submit another OC this Sunday (10/13/13), so be sure to be ready for that!_

_As always, don't forget to review!_


	5. Chapter 4

_A/N: As I write this author's note, I come to the sad realization that I probably won't be able to release the chapter on time… as I start writing it the day before. I guess that leads to this announcement: I am not going to upload on a set schedule, but instead I promise to upload weekly. Nothing else, as I probably won't be able to keep up with any schedule._

_Disclaimer: Only own Yuriko, nothing else, no one else._

…

**Floor 22, Unknown Forest.**

"So… this is where their base is located?" questioned Yuriko, stopping at the entrance of a cave that seemed to have a boulder blocking it.

"Yeah. I've already seen a few of their members walk in and out of it. I've been… surveying them, I guess," Takashi replied, glancing over at Yuriko.

A deep sigh escaped Yuriko, before he asked, "Any information on the base? Anything at all?"

Takashi shrugged a little, which Yuriko did not like, not one bit.

"Well… I guess we will play by ear. Is there any chance that there are any other entrances? Maybe something less conspicuous?"

A shake of the head was the reply that he got, which once again did not help Yuriko.

"Oh well. Let's… go."

With that, the two began to walk towards the entrance, trying to walk through it…

But they were stopped, as the boulder was, indeed a boulder, making Yuriko fall backwards, Takashi stumbling bac.

"Okay, I thought you said it was a fake boulder?!" Yuriko exclaimed, rubbing his face.

Groaning, Takashi replied to him, "It was… at least, that's what I thought…"

The two sat there for a moment, trying to figure out how to enter the base. Yuriko stood up and tapped the boulder lightly, listening to see if he heard an echo. Much to his surprise, there was.

"Well there _is _something, though I dunno what…"

"…Maybe we should try and… I guess cut through it?"

Yuriko drew his dagger, called the Breaker Blade. It was about the length of his forearm, maybe a little longer than it, with a black blade and grey border, with a red slash going horizontally through the blade, the hilt having the same color scheme.

"I don't think this will cut through something like that… at least, if it is real. What about you?"

"Well… I do have a sword, so I might be able to cut through it."

"Worth a shot. Though we might need to run and find your friend, as they'll notice quite quickly."

Nodding, Takashi drew his sword, giving it a few good swings to stretch, before motioning for Yuriko to back away, who followed the orders given. Takashi drew back his sword, a red light consuming the blade, and…

…

**Floor 23, First Town**

…

The group arrived in the town, the boss fight earlier not taking a long time at all.

"That was… easy…" Gawain said in disbelief, scratching the back of his head.

"It makes sense though. Floor 22 wasn't that difficult in the first place. The only true opposition we had was that Orange Guild we had to fight," Cyan replied to her comrade, checking her inventory for the last hit item, which was an upgraded form of her Curved Falchion, called 'Divinity.' Nodding slightly, she selected the item, which made her old weapon disappear with a white light, the new one replacing it in the process.

"Speaking of the orange guild, anyone heard from Yuriko?" Mari asked aloud, Angel raising an eyebrow in response.

"Who?"

"Oh, I guess our former leader, who broke off for now to help someone out, nothing too bad. You might meet him if he finishes up soon," replied Gawain, who checked his messages, but did not find anything from his friend.

"Well… I think he'll be fine," Cyan shrugged, closing her menu.

A silence fell upon the group, before Gawain came to a realization.

"Guys… are there any prominent guilds right now? Anyone trying to lead people in the frontlines?"

As expected, Gawain earned no response.

"Well… I think we should be that people. After all, we have been the only ones who have been clearing the floors sometimes, whereas others there are few other people there for back up. We need to unite under a common name, so we can be much stronger."

"That sounds fine and dandy and all… but I doubt that we would get that many people trying to join us. So many people have this 'every man for themselves' psyche going on, kind of like the orange guild we had to fight," Cyan stated in response, looking over at him.

"Yeah, but they were united as one; and they managed to defeat us in battle. Whether it was in sheer numbers, or it was in strength. Plus, I think people will realize that being by yourself or with a small group of friends is not going to work."

The two kept going back and forth; eventually to the point they were raising their voices in heated argument.

Mari then cut in, "Enough! We can discuss this once Yuriko comes back. I don't care what we do, whether we become a guild or stay as we are."

Gawain and Cyan stopped and looked at Mari, before sighing deeply.

"Okay…" "Sounds good," they replied simultaneously, before exchanging glances.

Another silence fell upon the group, as they had nothing to say. Angel and Gawain began to chat away, before he said, "We're going to the shop, if anyone needs us."

With that, the two departed, leaving Mari and Cyan alone, before another silence fell upon them. Mari sighed, before walking to the teleport pad.

"You're going to help Yuriko, aren't you?" asked the other, watching Mari.

Mari was caught off guard that Cyan could deduce what her plans were so easily, so the only response was a slight nod.

"…Fine, I won't tell the others that you've went to help, I'll… keep them distracted or something."

A deep sigh escaped Cyan, realizing that she probably made a grave error, promising to distract Gawain and Angel when they realize Mari has been missing.

"Okay. Thank you, Cyan."

With that, Mari was engulfed in a bright white light, before disappearing altogether.

"…Why did I do this…?"

…

**Floor 22, Orange Guild Hideout**

…

"Run! We can't stay and fight, just run!" Yuriko shouted to Takashi as they bolted down the hallway, orange players pouring down the hallway after them.

"You think I haven't realized this?!" yelled the other, jumping out of the way of a player trying to tackle him.

The two boys continued to run, trying their best to outmaneuver or outrun the pursuing party, but wherever they turned, another member was waiting for them.

"This was not a good idea!"

"You don't say?! What made you realize that, the time that you told me to destroy the boulder, or when you decided to run?!"

"Hey, you asked for help, this is what you got!"

The pursuit continued, until the sounds of footsteps behind them went silent. They started to slow down to a walk, before stopping altogether.

"…Worst… idea… ever…" panted Yuriko, hunching over in exhaustion.

"You're telling me…"

A few moments later, the duo were back on the move, stopping almost immediately as they turned a corner and listened for a moment.

"So, how is the hostage?" a voiced asked another.

"She isn't budging. Probably convinced that her little 'boyfriend' is coming. Hah! I doubt that! We should kill her and take her loot! That'd be much easier than waiting for him to give up!"

As the voices began to laugh, Takashi grabbed his sword and was about to charge in, but Yuriko held him back.

"I'm going to kill them!"

"No, we can't. By the time we finish them off, more will arrive, and we will be forced to run."

Takashi sighed, before nodding, replying, "You're right."

They continued to move in relative silence, the only source of noise was their own footsteps and the voices of others.

Moments passed, before they arrived in front of a door with iron bars for a window. Yuriko stopped there and whispered, "Keep look out. I'm going to check this room…"

He stood up and peered in, finding out that there was roughly 4 cages inside, only one of them having someone in there. A girl, with warm brown eyes, black hair that is parted to the right, just below shoulder length, sitting in the cage by herself. She seemed a little younger than Yuriko, possibly around 16 years old, as her body mass is a little bit smaller than his own.

"I think I found the prison… cover me…" whispered Yuriko as he peeked around the corner a little more to see a jailer sitting at a table with a bag full of coL on it.

He quietly stepped behind the player, before slamming his elbow into the back of the player's head, which knocked him out.

"I'm surprised that even worked…" commented the boy as he searched for the keys, finding them hidden behind the bag of money.

With that, he stepped towards the jail cell and inserted the key into the keyhole, turning it right until he heard a light 'click' emit from it. As if on cue, the girl looked up from her legs and saw Yuriko opening the door, and smiled brightly.

"Thank you!" she shouted out, before jumping up and tackling him to the ground.

"Shh..!" Yuriko managed to say before begin taken to the ground.

"Sorry!" the girl whispered, getting up and off of him.

"Just… don't do it again. It was already a pain to deal with the guild getting in."

"Thank you so much! I don't know ho-"

"No need. I'm just here to save you, nothing else. Your friend is outside, talk to him if you need someone to talk to."

"Who?"

"Takashi. Takashi Kida. You know, your 'partner?"

It took the girl a moment to process what he meant, before it suddenly dawned on her.

"Takashi!" she cried out, dashing out of the room and tackling him to the ground much like how she did to Yuriko.

"G-good to see you again…" he replied back, laughing slightly.

The two began to talk, before Yuriko cut in.

"This is all fine and dandy… but I would like to get out of here as soon as possible."

The two stopped their talking instantly, before nodding simultaneously.

"I don't think you know me, I'm Alice Aiko, but call me Arcane. I prefer that."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Yuriko Fujibayashi. Just Yuriko preferably."

"Yeah… well we need to get out soon, before the jailer wakes up and alarms the rest of the breakout."

Nodding, Yuriko gestured for the other to follow him. They began to walk down a long hallway, stopping occasionally to listen out for any guards that may be passing by. Eventually, they were lead to the entrance that Takashi had just revealed earlier.

"Don't think you will be getting away that quickly!" called out a voice from behind them.

Immediately, Yuriko and the others turned around to see the leader of the orange guild standing in front of them, with a group of vanguards standing next to him.

"You see, Takashi, you were supposed to give up all of your gear in exchange for her safety. Not recruit Yuriko here and break her out. Now we must take your lives."

"No… I won't let you kill them…" Yuriko said, stepping forward.

"Oh? And what do you plan to do about it?"

The player stopped for a moment, before thinking. There wasn't much he could do about it. Moments passed of nothing happening, before Yuriko had an idea.

"A duel. Lowest health at the end on one minute loses. If I win, you let us go, if you win…"

Another pause, there wasn't much Yuriko could offer, but another idea hit him.

"I'll be your prisoner."

The leader laughed, before speaking, "Fine, I accept the terms."

"Okay. What is your name? So I can send the invitation."

"Draconis."

Nodding, Yuriko quickly sent the invitation. A moment passed, before the duel countdown began. The vanguard backed off a little, Takashi and Arcane following suit. As the timer reached zero, Yuriko began to devise a plan to fight against Draconis.

'He is extremely quick for a greatsword user, hell; he might be faster than me. He also might have a poison that could potentially chip away at my health after I get hit. Damn… this is going to be tough…'

The timer hit zero, the words 'Duel Commence!' appearing above them.

Draconis decided to attack first, sprinting towards Yuriko and slashing down right upon him. Reacting quickly, Yuriko parried the blow and stabbed into Draconis stomach quickly. He couldn't help but smirk, thinking that it would be an easy fight after all.

The leader quickly put an end to that thought as he absorbed the blow unflinching. He grabbed his sword and stabbed it into the back of Yuriko's leg, creating the most excruciating pain he had felt since arriving in the game. Yelling out in pain, Yuriko shoved the larger player away from him, and then rolled backwards.

'Damn… I need to be more careful.'

"That cannot be all you can give me!"

Yuriko did not allow the words to get to him, not wanting to let his anger get the better of him. Instead, he used the man's cockiness to his advantage, dashing towards the leader, who was prepared to parry the incoming blow easily. However, Yuriko shifted his direction than the predicted one, stabbing his dagger into the hand of the leader, who grunted in pain as he shoved Yuriko away.

Despite the attack, Yuriko's health was still lower than Draconis' health, about a quarter of a bar smaller. To make matters worse, Yuriko only had fifteen seconds left in the duel, which meant the leader may still win. However, Yuriko wasn't one for surrendering early. He dashed towards the man, who waited for him to strike. The blow was easily parried, which made the leader laugh.

"Looks like you're mine now, Yuriko…"

However, out of nowhere, the leader felt a strong stab hit him in the stomach, making him lurch in pain.

"What the-!"

He looked down to see another dagger sticking out of his lower abdomen, the owner of the dagger clearly being Yuriko.

"When did you…"

"I've been working on it in secret. Stick that in your reports…"

The timer hit zero, which automatically pushed Draconis and Yuriko away from each other. An eerie silence overcame the cave, before the leader began to chuckle darkly, which erupted into an outright laugh.

"You think I would let you waltz right out of here unscathed?! Hah! Nice try! Get 'em, men!"

The vanguard who had been silently watching suddenly sprang forward, charging towards the trio.

"Run! I'll hold them off! We will meet back up at your house!" Yuriko cried out, which was a reminder of what happened just a day earlier.

Arcane and Takashi were a little hesitant at first, before dashing off into the forest.

"Kill him! No mercy!" Draconis shouted to his men.

The group of men began to circle Yuriko, offering no escape for the lone player. All at once, the men charged him, slashing to hit him. Yuriko reacted quickly and parried a blow upwards, stabbing into the chest of the target, making him fall back in pain. Another man stabbed in the direction of Yuriko, but was met with a throwing pick hitting him in the throat, his health dropping down to the low red- but he managed to live. Two men with pikes stabbed simultaneously, but Yuriko leaned back a little and shoved their arms towards the other, making them impale each other and fall over. More men began to pour down the hallway, but were quickly knocked out by accurately thrown throwing picks, which caused the men to stop attacking altogether.

"What are you doing?! It's just one player!" shouted Draconis angrily, who took out his sword.

He then saw Yuriko trying to make a break for it, but dashed forward and stabbed him through the leg. The player screamed out in pain, before turning around, ignoring the throbbing pain in both of his legs.

"You… are not… getting away!" yelled the leader, before bringing his sword down upon Yuriko.

"No… I will… no matter the costs!" growled Yuriko, who gracefully sidestepped the attack and kicked the greatsword out Draconis' hands.

"If you choose to pursuit me… or anyone in my group of friends…" started Yuriko, before pressing his dagger to Draconis' neck for added intimidation, "then I swear to you, I will end your life the moment I can. Stay. Away."

With that, Yuriko slammed his hand into the side of Draconis' head, knocking him out. The orange guild watched in fear, Yuriko savoring it for a moment, before dashing off.

…

**Later…**

…

**Floor 22, Takashi and Arcane's House**

"Great! I was so worried! You were so… outnumbered! You must be pretty damn good at this game," complimented Arcane, smiling brightly.

Yuriko held a blank expression as he replied, "I spend a lot of time training with my friends. Plus I got an early edge for… never mind."

"What? It can't be that big of a secret…"

"I would prefer not to talk about it."

A dark expression crossed his face for a moment, Takashi and Arcane noticing it.

"I… see. We won't press any further. Right, Arcane?" Takashi said, looking to Arcane, who nodded her head slightly.

"Good. Well I must be off. I have a few friends waiting for me."

Yuriko got up to leave, but heard Arcane call out to him.

"Yuriko wait! Can we come with you? I want to meet your friends."

Pausing for a moment, Yuriko thought about the advantage of having more people in his group, before nodding his head slightly.

"I don't have a problem with it. Not at all."

Smiling brightly, Arcane got up, followed by Takashi, both of them heading towards the door.

"I'll tell them I am coming. They might have moved up to the next floor."

With that, Yuriko opened up the menu and sent Mari the message, but as he stepped to leave the house, he ran right into the aforementioned player.

"Yuriko!" she jumped, surprised that she found him so easily.

"O-oh. Hey Mari. I was just heading back to town…"

A small smirk crossed Arcane's face, before saying, "It's nice to meet you, Mari! I'm Arcane, and he's Takashi Kida. Yuriko here just saved me, and then single-handedly held off an orange guild from killing us!"

Yuriko scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment, not having anything to add.

"Oh really now? Looks like we have our own little hero," chuckled Mari, before continuing, "Well it is nice to meet you both. Mari Mao at your service! Anyways, I don't suppose you guys want to join us? By the looks of it, you guys are about to accompany Yuriko to the rest of our group, correct?"

"Erm… Yeah! Can't wait to meet the rest of them!"

"Well let's get moving then," Yuriko cut them off, before leaving the house, Takashi following him soon afterwards.

"Wait, don't leave us!" shouted out Arcane, chasing after Takashi, Mari laughing a little, before catching up to Yuriko.

"Good to see that you're alive," she said to him.

Yuriko nodded his head slightly, not showing any emotion on his face.

"I would have met up with you guys earlier, but I was poisoned. Takashi saved me yesterday, but he wanted my help, which I obliged."

Mari did not have anything to add, before sighing deeply, continuing the rest of the walk in silence.

…

**Later…**

…

**Floor 23, First Town**

Yuriko, Mari, Takashi, and Arcane arrived in the next floor, which by then had begun to populate with front line players, ready to move on.

"How long ago did you guys beat the boss?" Yuriko questioned, glancing at Mari for a moment.

"Uhm… less than a few hours ago. Maybe 5 hours ago," she replied, messaging for the rest of the group to meet in the town square.

"So I'm a little behind…" sighed the player, knowing that he would need to have a grind session to increase in levels, but he may hold off on it until later.

"I doubt it. You seem to be above the current level right now!" Arcane commented, smirking a little.

"Yeah, I have to agree with her. You could easily take on most of those orange guild players on your own," said Takashi in agreement, Mari simply nodding her head.

"That's not the point, I need to keep ahead of the current wave of players, else I will fall behind and ultimately die. Furthermo-"

"Hey, Yuriko! Nice to see you're still alive!" called out Gawain, throwing his hand in the air as a wave.

"Good to see you, Gawain. I assume all is well?"

"Yeah. We managed to beat the boss with just us four," Cyan answered, taking the question for herself.

"Oh, and this is Angel. Angel, this is Yuriko, our fearless leader," smirked Gawain, introducing the two.

"Nice to meet you, Yuriko. Your friends saved me from the same orange guild that you defeated," she said.

"Yeah, that went surprisingly well. Consider that I took revenge for you. Oh and this is Takashi and Arcane. Takashi recruited me to help save her from the same orange guild. That reminds me, why did they want you, Arcane."

"Oh, I was a hostage. Takashi was supposed to surrender everything that he had in exchange for my safety. Assholes…"

"I guess that makes sense… Well it's nice to meet you both," Gawain said.

A silence settled over the group, most of them not wanting to ask the question to Yuriko, but Cyan finally decide to ask.

"Yuriko, we were discussing on making our group into a guild that others can join, but we reached a… stalemate I guess," said Gawain, slowly trying to get around to what he wanted to say, but just went for it.

"I don't think is a good idea, as we want to keep the group small," Cyan added, trying to give her point of view on this whole thing.

Yuriko thought for a moment, trying to decide on the best course of action. After a moment, he asked, "What does everyone else think?"

"Well… I couldn't care less really. I would do whatever," Mari gave her input after a brief moment of silence.

"I just got here, so I don't want to sway the votes anywhere," Angel stated, giving a shrug of indifference.

"Yeah, got to agree with Angel there," said Takashi, Arcane nodding in agreement.

"You guys are not making this easy for me…" sighed Yuriko, shaking his head a little, "I'll make my decision tomorrow. I'm really tired."

Gawain and Cyan sighed loudly, while Mari laughed aloud.

"Sorry guys, looks like it will have to wait," she chuckled.

"Well I'm heading towards the inn, see you guys later," Yuriko said, walking away.

On the way, Yuriko couldn't ditch the feeling that they needed to make a guild. Outside of the orange and red guilds, he only knew of two guilds, Knights of the Blood and Aincrad Liberation Force. There were also smaller groups and other groups that searched for loot exclusively, like the Divine Dragon Alliance. Another guild would be beneficial to the Sword Art Online players as a whole.

Then again, he would be the leader of the group and that would only add to the stress of someone dying, something he might not be able to handle. Plus, rival guilds might send out assassins to take him out, as he would be a high value target. Also, his close friends would be targeted. And the diplomacy he would deal with.

"I guess I'm going to sleep tonight…" he groaned to himself, facepalming a little.

…

_A/N: Sorry, no new OCs this chapter. It was a little hard to write it, let alone put characters in it. Little known fact: I do not have a specific structure to the fic, so you can imagine the difficulty that comes with. Anyways, thanks for reading and staying loyal!_

_OH! One more thing! No more OCs! Thanks to all whose submitted their OCs, because I have over 13-16 characters right now, roughly 10 of them yet to be introduced. So… yeah. Wish me luck!_


	6. Chapter 5

_A/N: Thank you all the dedicated readers out there. Each time I see a review or a simple view for my story, I feel inspired and pushed to continue writing this fic._

_Disclaimer: Do not own SAO, only own Yuriko._

…

**Tokyo, Japan, Akio's House**

Sitting up slightly, Akio stretched his back and arms, a yawn escaping him at the same time. He threw his legs over the side of his bed, standing up. Scratching the back of his head, he mumbled underneath his breath, "Some dream… I doubt that would happen…"

He couldn't help but let a laugh escape him, knowing that his dreams were getting crazier and crazier by the day, mainly because he was getting older. He walked downstairs, stepping into the kitchen to grab some breakfast.

"Morning, meimei," he said over to her as he opened one of the cabinets that held his soon to be breakfast, but he stopped midway, due to the fact that she did not respond to him, her face seemingly distant.

"Is everything all right?" Akio questioned her, turning around, a light frown on his own face.

A deep sigh escaped him as his mother walked in to the room, glancing over at his sister, before continuing on to the cabinets.

"Morning, Haha. What's wrong with Kata?" he asked, waving to her.

Much to his surprise, there was no response from his mother either, which only irritated him some more.

"Okay, just ignore me. I don't know what I did wrong to irritate you both, but I guess I will have to deal with it."

With that, he reached up to open up the cabinet, but much to his surprise, his hand passed right through the handle.

"What the…?" he mused, pulling his hand back suddenly, looking at it for a moment.

He then turned to his mother, slowly moving his hand towards her arm, trying to see if his hand would go through. It did.

"Wait… this is a dream, isn't it…" he mumbled to himself, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply, before feeling a sensation that he was falling backwards into a pit…

…

**Floor 23, Inn at the first town**

Yuriko groaned as he sat up in the bed that he had bought that night. Shaking his head, he knew it was far too good to be true. He waking up in his house, this whole game just being some nightmare just seemed too far-fetched. Shaking his head, he moved towards the exit of the room, opening it… only to run into Gawain and Cyan already outside, arguing.

"He is going to make a guild; I can make sure of it!" Gawain stated, giving Cyan an irritated look.

"No, I doubt Yuriko will. He knows of the stress that will come, and the chances of someone trying to sabotage us," Cyan countered, a frown on her face.

"Uh… guys, I'm right here…"

"So you don't think he can handle it?"

"I'm not saying that, but I think he knows that it will be a pain."

"Guys?"

"Oh come now, we all know he can easily handle the stress. After all, look what he has done thus far. I think he is more than capable."

"But does he know how to handle assassins?"

"Shut up! Both of you! I will make the decision myself." Yuriko suddenly shouted, grabbing the attention of the two opponents, who looked up in surprise.

"First of all, Cyan, I don't like someone doubting my abilities and how I would handle high stress situations. Second, Gawain, no need to argue with friends, as they are usually just looking out for the best of us."

"…So have you made a decision yet?" Cyan questioned; which made Yuriko sigh deeply.

"Yes. We are going to make a guild, but it is going to be invitation only, and we will have an application for people who want to join. In order to progress faster in the game, we need to make sure that everyone is united to fight against the boss, especially the end game boss."

Gawain smirked and looked over at Cyan, who looked a little irked, but got over it for the most part.

"Fine, I'll tell everyone else to meet at the Town of Beginnings," she said, opening up her menu and typing up a message.

"Wait, why there?"

"Because that is where the guild master is. You know, the NPC who makes the guild official…"

"…Oh…" sighed Yuriko, scratching the back of his head.

"Okay. Well… tell them to meet up in about an hour. We need everyone there to make the guild. Right?"

"Yes. Message sent. I will see you two then," Cyan spoke, before walking away.

Gawain and Yuriko exchanged glances, before the former just shrugged.

"She will get over it eventually," he said, but did not give Yuriko much comfort.

"Hopefully. Cyan is an invaluable asset."

A brief silence overcame them, as they had nothing to say.

"I guess I'll see you then, Yuriko-chan."

"…Do you want me to kill you?"

Gawain laughed at Yuriko, before dashing off in an attempt to get away from him before he attacks him.

With that, Yuriko re-equipped his armor and weapons, and then left the inn, heading towards the teleport pad. Before he arrived there, he noticed a man moving towards him. As the man, at least that is what he judged, approached him, he recognized him slightly from stories he had heard previously. It was the Black Guardian standing in front of him.

"Yuriko Fujibayashi?" the man asked, looking at Yuriko closely.

Yuriko examined the man more closely, finally able to see the Black Guardian up close. The player was roughly four or five years older than Yuriko, possibly 21, with short, black spikey hair, blue-grey eyes, and a build that would fit a 21 year old. However, aside from the man being the Black Guardian, Yuriko could not help but feel like he knew him from the Beta, but quickly dismissed the thought.

"That would be me. And you are?"

"Just call me Arcturus. I heard that you've made a sizable group and…"

"You would like to join."

"Yes."

It didn't take long for Yuriko to decide on whether he would accept the player, as he said almost a moment afterwards, "Sure. We need a tank in the group anyways. I am about to make a guild with the group, so you can accompany me to the guild master if you'd wish."

Arcturus nodded his head, changing directions so he could walk beside Yuriko.

"…Arcturus, I must ask, do I know you from somewhere? The beta perhaps? You just seem oddly familiar, but I can't place my finger on it. Have any ideas?"

A light frown came across the man's face, before he replied to him, "I only got the game the day it came out, never been in the beta of it."

"Huh… sorry, you just seem so familiar. Maybe I saw you in the beginning floors, who knows," said Yuriko, dropping the subject altogether, but he could not stop thinking on it.

…

**One Hour Later**

…

**Floor 1, Town of Beginnings**

Yawning deeply, Yuriko stretched his arms a little, careful of not to hit anyone standing near him. Glancing around, he took note of who was there.

_Mari, Gawain, Cyan, Takashi, Arcane, Angel, and Arcturus. All here._

They were busy talking amongst each other, while Arcturus and Yuriko stuck to the edge of the conversation that was going on. Yuriko picked up on a few words, such as 'guild,' 'boss,' 'leader,' and many more words related. He inferred that they were talking about the leader of the Knights of the Blood, who was planning on taking on Floor 23's boss as soon as possible. Yuriko planned of having his guild join the raid party, but in order for that to happen, he must first create the guild.

Sighing, he turned his back to the group, approaching the guild master NPC, who was just staring into space as of this moment. As Yuriko approached, the NPC turned his head in the direction of the player, before saying, "Do you wish to create a guild?"

"Yes."

"Does your current group have at least five people above level 20, and do you have 10,000 coL?"

"Yes."

"…Confirmed. What would your guild like to be named?"

Yuriko paused for a moment, quickly thinking of a name. It was a difficult decision, as what he chose could bring in more players, or push them away. He decided to think on the goals of the group.

_First policy… Protect and defend any player in need._

_Second policy… Stop the progression of any orange or red guild, no matter the cost._

_Next… Fight for the fallen, people who had died in this game._

_Ensure that Kayaba Akihiko is given the proper punishment._

He knew there were many more rules, policies, and goals he had to make up, but as of that moment, Yuriko concluded that he had thought of a good name.

"The Night's Watch."

"…Name is available. Is this guild public, private, or do you have a custom policy for joining?"

"Custom Policy. Application process."

"…Confirmed. Is everyone in your group going to join the guild?"

"Yes."

"Completed. CoL will be taken from your account shortly."

A moment passed, and then Yuriko noted that his coL account had lost a significant amount of money, which meant…

"Good luck in Aincrad, Night's Watch."

The sound that came from the NPC was emotionless, as if it didn't care, but Yuriko could not shake the feeling that Kayaba did that on purpose, just to piss him off, but he was beyond that. Yuriko walked to the newly formed guild, which all just got the invitation to the guild.

"Well, Yuriko, looks like the guild is formed. Who is going to be your second in command? You know that we need one, in case you go missing for a while," Gawain said, smiling slightly, probably because he thought that he would get Co-Leader of the guild.

"He has a point, Yuriko. We need someone to take over if you for whatever reason die taking on a boss, or something bad occurs," Cyan urged, nodding in agreement.

"Who do you guys think should be co-leader?" Yuriko asked them both.

"I" "Me" Cyan and Gawain said simultaneously, before glaring at each other.

"Oh? What makes you so qualified, Gawain?"

"I'm not entirely emotionless, first off. Also, I am a good teacher, and an even better teacher. If we get any new members, I can teach them how to better in combat, and the guild. Furthermore, I've lead many guilds in previous MMOs."

"That's your experience? I've been a leader in many occasions in real life, plus when Yuriko went missing for a brief period of time, I took over as leader, while you and that Angel girl just kept to yourselves most of the time. Furthermore, I don't let emotions get in the way. Who knows what you would do if that girl got hurt or even died?"

"I'm not going to choose either of you," Yuriko cut in before Gawain could make his rebuttal, which surprised them both.

"Wait… then who?" asked Takashi, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you going to pick a co-leader?" Arcturus questioned, equally surprised.

Angel and Arcane were a little confused, as they had no idea what was going on.

"No, I am going to pick a co-leader," Yuriko confirmed, opening up the guild menu and scanning through the member list, finding a name and pressing it, before pressing on the 'Make Co-Leader' button that popped up.

Everyone opened up their messaging centers, eager to see if they got it.

"Not me," Gawain sighed, closing his menu.

"Me neither," Cyan grumbled, looking over at Yuriko.

"Nothing," Takashi stated, followed by Arcturus, Arcane, and Angel saying that they received nothing, which left…

"Me?" Mari asked in shock, looking at Yuriko.

Yuriko nodded his head, before saying, "You have no qualms with anyone here, nor do you honestly hate anyone to the extent that you won't talk to them. Furthermore, I've known you a really long time and… well you did save me on Floor 1. Remember?"

"O-oh. I see…"

"Anyways, I think we should make some sort of pledge to the guild, so we have something that binds us and any new players that will join, to us and the guild."

….

**Sometime later**

…

"So is that fine?" asked Yuriko, looking at everyone who was in the circle.

A general consensus of nods was what he got, which was enough.

"Alright, line up."

With that, everyone lined up in front of Yuriko, staring at him, waiting for him to begin the oath. He raised his right hand, everyone else following suit.

After that, they all began to speak simultaneously, "Night gathers, and now my watch begins.

It shall not end until my death.

I shall live and die at my post.

I am the sword in the darkness.

I am the watcher on the walls.

I am the fire that burns against the cold.

The light that brings the dawn.

The horn that wakes the sleepers.

The shield that guards the realms of men.

I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch,

For this night, and all nights to come."

After that, they lowered their hands in silence.

"Now that is out of the way, we need to find a Headquarters, set out advertisements about recruitment, and… well generally we need to get money for the HQ. Without it, we cannot draw people to join."

"We can start with recruitment," Takashi said, nodding in the direction of Arcane.

"I'll help them," Angel cut in before anyone else could volunteer.

"I'm fine with setting out some advertisements around the towns," Gawain volunteered.

"I'll do advertising also," Cyan said, although she probably did not want to work alongside Gawain.

"I'll aid them on that adventure," Arcturus spoke, before moving in the direction of Gawain and Cyan.

"I guess that leaves Mari and me to scout out any HQs. I think we should head in the direction of Floors 22-23, maybe 24 if it opens up soon," Yuriko stated, opening up his map to check out if there are any suitable housing or headquarters location nearby.

"Message me when you guys are through with what you are working on, and I will give you something else to do. Good luck everyone."

…

**Months later**

…

**Floor 35, Night's Watch HQ**

Yuriko jerked his head up, looking around suddenly. His new armor, which now consisted of chain armor chestpiece and leggings, along with a red undershirt on top of his armor, black duster that had an eye with two swords crossing behind it on his back and hood, moved slightly at the sudden movement.

With a deep, exaggerated yawn, he said, "I need to get more sleep… that's the second time I fell asleep at my desk…"

He stood up and stretched his arms, walking to the door that was less than ten feet in front of him.

Yuriko's office was a room with a large window opening up to a cliff that dropped extremely far down. In front of his window was his desk and chair, both being extremely well crafted by the looks of it. To his left and right were two of the same emblems that were seen on his duster, an eye with two swords crossing behind it.

Yuriko moved to the door, but heard knocking at it. With an irritable sigh, he called out, "Come in."

Mari walked opened the door and walked in, smiling ever-so-brightly.

"Did you have a nice nap?" she chuckled at him.

"If you could say that… What do you need?"

Mari got down to business, taking out a letter that had the Knights of Blood symbol in the upper left. She placed it in front of him.

"The messenger said it comes from the desk of Heathcliffe himself."

Yuriko raised an eyebrow, before saying, "Must be important then. What about the players? How is everyone feeling?"

"Aside from the constant bickering between Cyan and Gawain, everyone is quite happy with how everything is being run. We are clearing the floors quite fast, and I don't think we have lost anyone."

"Good. We need to keep morale high, lest we will have people deserting us in favor of another guild."

Mari frowned a little, before asking, "Yuriko, I don't want to push you to talk about anything you don't want to… but does the memories of the first boss battle still affect you at all? I mean… maybe that is what is messing with your sleeping patterns?"

"I'm fine, Mari. Those memories are long since gone. I'm over them," he said, looking at her.

The frown did not fade at all, but Mari nodded, saying, "Okay, okay. Well if you need me, I'm heading towards the training area."

Mari departed after that, before Yuriko looked at the letter. He opened it, scanning over it for a moment.

_Dear, Yuriko-san,_

_I see that your guild is developing quite nicely. As a friend and future ally, I wish for our guilds to work alongside each other so we can progress through the floors much quicker. However, remember to be careful of what people ask of you. Some of them might want to exploit your kindness, or may even try to use you against your guild. Be careful._

_Knights of Blood leader, Heathcliffe._

Yuriko finished the letter, setting it aside. He stood up and looked out of the window for a moment.

"We are not even halfway done with the game, but we are rapidly approaching the year and a half marker for being in here… Things are not looking good either. Everyday people die, our chances going alongside with it. This is not good at all…"

Shaking his head, Yuriko cleared his head of all doubt, walking to leave the room and oversee the new recruits, and makes sure they are getting settled in just fine underneath Gawain an Cyan's rule.

…

_A/N: Yes, I did reference something with the naming of the guild and the pledge/oath they had to take. A pat on the back is the reward for anyone who figures it out._

_Again, lack of new OCs being introduced. My fault about that._

_As always, please review!_


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